Impact on Church Ministry In chapter ten, Sapiential Theology, Ellen Charry provides a three-part overview of the role of doctrine to help cultivate a skilled life of excellence for a Christian believer. I believe these three sections, The Salutarity of Christian Doctrine, Renewing Sapiential Theology and Practicing The Theological Art to be the most practical areas of Charry’s work that can positively impact my church ministry.
The Salutarity of Christian Doctrine Charry provides a great explanation and summary of her work by revealing how the primary doctrines of the theologians and their doctrines explored in this book create secondary doctrines as a result. While primary doctrines are the first-order ideas that help a person to know …show more content…
As Charry’s describes it, “Knowing the truth no longer implied loving it, wanting it, and being transformed by it, because the truth no longer brings the knower to God but to use information to subdue nature.” In other words, despite theology’s attempt at being sapiential in nature, current doctrine in the church is informational over experiential. If Paul’s words in Romans 8:29 “to be conformed to the image of his Son” are to be true, then theology and church doctrine has to actually be applied and lived out by a knower of God. If the excellent life can be truly lived by God’s power, then there must be a descriptive pattern on how the Christian should practically and consistent live their life. Charry begins to frame a solution to this problem by calling modern theologians to present truth and goodness to be reconnected as did many great theologians of the past. Theology is not merely a science that can be observed and understood under a microscope. Furthermore, Charry states, “What science calls truth is only part of what theology calls truth, for theology insists that truth is salutary—that God is good for us.” By rekindling truth with goodness, a believer will be able to not only know of God but be known by God as they develop into obedient
The Salutarity of Christian Doctrine Charry provides a great explanation and summary of her work by revealing how the primary doctrines of the theologians and their doctrines explored in this book create secondary doctrines as a result. While primary doctrines are the first-order ideas that help a person to know …show more content…
As Charry’s describes it, “Knowing the truth no longer implied loving it, wanting it, and being transformed by it, because the truth no longer brings the knower to God but to use information to subdue nature.” In other words, despite theology’s attempt at being sapiential in nature, current doctrine in the church is informational over experiential. If Paul’s words in Romans 8:29 “to be conformed to the image of his Son” are to be true, then theology and church doctrine has to actually be applied and lived out by a knower of God. If the excellent life can be truly lived by God’s power, then there must be a descriptive pattern on how the Christian should practically and consistent live their life. Charry begins to frame a solution to this problem by calling modern theologians to present truth and goodness to be reconnected as did many great theologians of the past. Theology is not merely a science that can be observed and understood under a microscope. Furthermore, Charry states, “What science calls truth is only part of what theology calls truth, for theology insists that truth is salutary—that God is good for us.” By rekindling truth with goodness, a believer will be able to not only know of God but be known by God as they develop into obedient